Revenue: FG’s Collection Cost Up 83.7% To N698.75bn

The cost of revenue collection by key revenue generating agencies of the Federal Government, such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), hit N698.75 billion in the first nine months of this year, findings by New Telegraph has shown.

The amount is N318.44 billion or 83.73 per cent higher than the N380.31 billion that the agencies got as collection cost in the corresponding period of 2023.

New Telegraph’s analysis of FAAC communiqués and data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), indicates that revenue collection cost for the agencies stood at N78.30 billion in January 2024; N66.46 billion in February, N69.54 billion in March, N69.53 billion in April, N80.51 billion in May, N76.64 billion in June, N99.756 billion in July, N81.975 billion in August and N80.99 billion in September.

Under the current cost-of-collection arrangement, the FIRS receives four per cent of non-oil revenues; the NCS receives seven per cent of customs duties and levies while the NUPRC gets four per cent of royalties, rents, and other oil and gas sector revenues.

A statement issued, last Thursday, by the Director, Information and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mohammed Manga, at the end of the FAAC’s October 2024 meeting, for instance, partly said: “The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), at its October 2024 meeting chaired by the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, shared a total sum of N1.298 trillion to the three tiers of government as Federation Allocation for the month of September, 2024 from a gross total of N2.298 trillion.

“From the stated amount inclusive of Gross Statutory Revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), Exchange Difference (ED and Augmentation of N150 billion, the Federal Government received N424.867 billion, local government councils got N329 billion, while the Oil Producing States received N90 billion as Derivation, (13% of Mineral Revenue).

“The sum of N80.993 billion was given for the cost of collection, while N878.946 billion was allocated for Transfers Intervention and Refunds.”